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M8 Greyhound
|upkeep = |prereq = None |production_struc = Motor Pool |primary_weapon = M6 37mm Gun |secondary_weapon = Coaxial M1919a4 Light Machine Gun |garrison = |health = |armor = Light |speed = 6.4 m/s |num_products = |produces = |num_abilities = 1 |abilities = Armored Car Mine Drop *Deploys a single set of heavy Mines which will damage or destroy any enemy units passing over them. *Costs *Takes 2 seconds to complete *Cooldown: 15 seconds |num_upgrades = 2 |upgrades = M2HB .50 Cal Machine Gun * Adds a gunner for the vehicle's turret-mounted M2 Browning Heavy Machine Gun. * Costs * Takes 20 seconds to install Armor Skirts * Increases the vehicle's Maximum Health by 2x (to ) * Costs * Takes 20 seconds to install }} The M8 "Greyhound" Armored Car, or M8 Greyhound, is a medium general-purpose scout fielded by the American army in Company of Heroes. With fast movement and armor thick enough to protect it from small-arms and machine-gun fire, the M8 Greyhound can easily patrol your territory to attack enemy infantry and light vehicles. It is also a good support vehicle for protecting the flanks of an armored advance. It can be further upgraded with extra anti-infantry firepower and increased survivability. The Armor Company uses these for quick hit-and-run sector seizures. Overview The M8 Greyhound is the American army's primary medium Vehicle. Fast and sturdy (against small weapons, at least), it can easily drive off enemy infiltrators attempting to secure enemy territory, and is powerful enough to engage most light vehicles without fear. Although not as useful as a tank, it is significantly cheaper and often produced in large quantities. The M8 Greyhound is constructed at the Motor Pool, for the cost of , , . It is a 6-wheeled vehicle with 19mm-thick armor protecting it on its front side: thick enough to deflect small-caliber ammunition. The vehicle is topped by a small turret, carrying three weapons: an M6 37mm Gun, a coaxial M1919a4 Light Machine Gun, and an M2 Browning Heavy Machine Gun on a separate revolving rail. The Greyhound is not the best fighting vehicle, but it is certainly versatile. Its main cannon is capable of hurting light vehicles and can reliably pierce the rear armor of enemy tanks. The coaxial M1919a4, though relatively poor in accuracy and damage, can nonetheless assist the main cannon in taking out enemy Infantry units and Weapon Teams. The M2 Browning Heavy Machine Gun is initially unmanned, but an upgrade will add a crewmember to operate this gun, which can engage targets separately of the main cannon and provides even more firepower against enemy infantry. The M8 Greyhound has the ability to deploy extra-powerful Mines, which can be used to quickly protect a captured area against enemy tank incursions. To boost the vehicle's survivability, it can also be outfitted with Armor Skirts, increasing its Maximum Health to levels more suitable for a medium vehicle. M8 Greyhounds can be used both defensively and offensively. They make excellent patrol vehicles, capable of easily fending off enemy units attempting to make fast land-grabs, and assisting American Defensive Structures in fighting off enemy vehicles. On the offense, the M8 Greyhound's speed allows it to make very effective hit-and-run attacks against vulnerable enemy positions, and it can even attempt to plant mines inside enemy territory or perform other swift maneuvers. Weapons The M8 Greyhound is armed with three distinctive weapons, all mounted on its turret. First and foremost is the M6 37mm Gun, a low-yield but still respectable anti-vehicle weapon, with sufficient accuracy to snipe enemy infantry. An M1919a4 Light Machine Gun is mounted co-axially to the cannon, increasing its anti-infantry firepower when engaging such units. Finally, the vehicle's turret has a top-rail on which an M2 Browning Heavy Machine Gun is mounted. This weapon is initially unmanned, requiring an expensive upgrade in order to become operable. Once purchased, the M2 gunner will engage infantry and light-vehicle targets, causing good damage if not destroying them. M6 37mm Gun The primary weapon for the M8 Greyhound is this small but useful 37mm cannon, firing medium armor-piercing shells. While not comparable to an actual tank gun, this weapon is nonetheless very good at taking out enemy vehicles, or even hurting enemy tanks from the rear. The M6 37mm Gun's shells inflict 50 points of damage per shot. They are rather accurate, capable of hitting infantry 75% of the time at most ranges, but are much more useful against enemy vehicles. The shells have an almost perfect penetration rate against all Axis medium vehicles, including the heavier-armored Marder III Tank Hunter. Against tanks, this weapon may have trouble piercing front armor. For example, it only has a 40% base chance of piercing through the front of a Panzer IV tank. However, the weapon is significantly more reliable against rear armor, which is why the M8 Greyhound makes a good flanker during armored assaults. The speed of the M6 37mm Gun is perhaps its weakest property. It takes 7 seconds to reload the gun between each and every shot, comparable to the reload times of a large anti-tank cannon. This is due to the cramped conditions inside the Greyhound's small turret. This means it may have trouble engaging large groups of units, making the vehicle more suitable for attacks against individual or exposed units. The range of the M6 37mm Gun is 40 meters - just beyond the vehicle's sight-range (35 meters). M1919a4 Light Machine Gun The M1919a4 LMG is a belt-fed automatic weapon, firing .30 cal rounds. It is mounted co-axially to the M6 37mm Gun, and will only open fire at whatever target the main gun is engaging. It is meant simply to provide extra firepower, especially against infantry. The M1919a4 is not a very impressive weapon. Its shots are very inaccurate, and cause little suppression and only 4 damage per every hit. The weapon makes up for this slightly by firing in very long bursts, about 5 seconds long, totaling about 35 bullets per burst. Still, with such low accuracy values it is unlikely to cause much damage to the target. Note also that this weapon has a range of only 25 meters, the normal infantry-engagement range. M2 Browning Heavy Machine Gun This is a .50 caliber belt-fed automatic weapon. It is mounted on a rotating rail at the top of the turret. Though slow to rotate, it can engage targets separately from the main cannon. It will prefer to engage enemy infantry, as it is quite useful against them. This machine gun can be compared to several other types of Heavy Machine Guns used by the Americans, on their vehicles or other units. It has a fairly rapid firing rate, discharging bursts of 12-18 bullets (2-3 seconds long) with intervals of between 2-4 seconds between each burst. Accuracy leaves something to be desired, but is sufficiently good given the high firing rate. Each bullet striking its target delivers a basic 7 points of damage, like most other American Heavy Machine Guns. However, this weapon has a damage bonus against some types of infantry, making them a little easier to kill. Unfortunately, the gun has very weak Suppression effects. Damage against enemy vehicles is significantly reduced, and this weapon is unable to do any significant damage to enemy tanks whatsoever. The M2 Browning Heavy Machine Gun is initially unmanned, and will not open fire at any enemy. To activate this weapon, you must purchase the M2HB .50 Cal Machine Gun upgrade for the vehicle, which will add a gunner to operate it. Note that the gunner can be killed when critical damage is applied to the vehicle. Repairing the vehicle will equip it with a new gunner. Finally, note that the weapon has a range of 35 meters (the vehicle's sight-range), and can rotate 360° degrees around to engage any target within this range. Abilities The M8 Greyhound is capable of laying a unique type of Mine, stronger than the kind laid by engineering units, but significantly more costly. Armored Car Mine Drop *Costs *Activation: Select Ground *Takes 2 seconds to complete When this ability is activated, select any point on the map. The M8 Greyhound will drive to the designated point and take 2 seconds laying a set of Mines there. These mines will camouflage themselves a few moments after being constructed, like all mines do, becoming invisible to the enemy. If any enemy unit comes within close proximity to a mine, it will detonate, causing significant damage in a large radius. Friendly units can pass over the mines without detonating them. The cost per set of Greyhound-dropped Mines ( ) is twice as high as the cost of planting mines with an Engineer Squad, but this is not without merit: these mines are armed with an enhanced explosive charge. When they detonate, they cause 50% more damage to any unit caught in their blast radius of 10 meters. This is both a more powerful and larger explosion than that of regular mines. The speed of the M8 Greyhound often allows it to plant mines inside enemy territory and quickly retreat. The enemy rarely expects enemy mines inside his own sectors, and has a high chance of triggering them and losing units. Infantry units, especially, are very vulnerable to M8 Greyhound Mines, due to the large explosive radius and damage output. For more information about Greyhound Mines and Mines in general, see Mines. Upgrades The M8 Greyhound has two available upgrades: the M2HB .50 Cal Machine Gun for additional firepower, and the Armor Skirts for additional survivability. M2HB .50 Cal Machine Gun * Costs * Takes 20 seconds to install Unlike its name may suggest, this upgrade does not actually add a Browning M2 Heavy Machine Gun to the vehicle - that weapon already exists but is unmanned and inoperable without this upgrade. The upgrade only adds a gunner to operate it. The M2 Browning Heavy Machine Gun adds extra firepower to the vehicle, useful against both enemy infantry and light vehicles. It can also engage targets independently of the main cannon, so while the vehicle is attacking a tank the M2 Browning will look for nearby infantry to shoot at. Note that the gunner can be killed by critical damage to the M8 Greyhound. He'll be replaced when the vehicle is repaired by an Engineer Squad or other method. Armor Skirts * Costs * Takes 20 seconds to install The Armor Skirts upgrade installs additional armor plating over the vehicle's wheels. Instead of raising the vehicle's resistance to armor-penetrating weapons as it might suggest, the upgrade increases the vehicle's Maximum Health to double its original value - to a total . The M8 Greyhound can now effectively take twice as much damage as normal before being destroyed. This upgrade significantly increases the survivability of the M8 Greyhound, which is otherwise rather flimsy for a medium vehicle. With , the Greyhound can survive at least one shot from most tank and anti-tank cannons. This is an extremely important upgrade, that will at least reduce the chance of losing this relatively-expensive vehicle in combat. It's usually a good idea to install this on all M8 Greyhounds as soon as possible, preferably before the M2HB .50 Cal Machine Gun upgrade if possible. Veterancy As an American unit, the M8 Greyhound can gain three levels of Veterancy. Each level brings its own specific benefits, increasing the unit's combat potential and/or survivability. Accumulation Like all other American units, the M8 Greyhound obtains Veterancy points by killing enemy units. It receives 100% of the experience value of each unit it kills. Once it has accumulated a sufficient number of Veterancy points, it will automatically advance to the next level, gaining the related bonuses immediately. American units do not share Veterancy points with one another. To receive points, the unit must personally kill an enemy unit. Bonuses At each Veterancy level, the M8 Greyhound gains a specific set of bonuses as listed below. These bonuses are cumulative with each other. Tactics The M8 Greyhound is a crucial unit as soon as it becomes available - usually during the middle stage of the battle. This will often be your first unit that can tackle both enemy Infantry and Vehicles. As such, it is required in order to maintain a good mobile defense against mid-game enemy units, and can also serve you in offensive maneuvers, well into the late game. The M8 Greyhound combines speed with firepower. Although it is rather fragile (at least until Armor Skirts are installed), it can swiftly wipe out enemy units attempting to infiltrate the weak points in your defensive line, and can perform very effective raids on enemy territory. It relies on hit-and-run tactics, rather than direct confrontation with large enemy units. M8 Greyhounds work best in large groups when performing these attacks. Later on, the M8 Greyhound is required as a flanking vehicle for armored assaults. It protects the vulnerable flanks of the assault against enemy vehicles and infantry, and works well in this capacity together with M45 Quadmount Halftracks. More importantly however, the M8 Greyhound is often expected to "fall in" from its flanking position to surround and destroy enemy tanks, while they are being engaged from the front by an M4 Sherman or other tank unit. Mobile Defense The American defensive line is not quite strong enough to tackle any serious enemy threat, especially during the mid and late game stages. Machine Gun Emplacements and M1 57mm Anti Tank Guns can hold specific positions against enemy approaches, but both are vulnerable and rather static. To prevent the enemy from exploiting gaps in your defenses, or overwhelming your units with large-scale attacks, you will need to use M8 Greyhound patrols to react to such incursions. The M8 Greyhound combines the speed and firepower required for this role. Its cannon can snipe away enemy infantry, and is very powerful against enemy light vehicles such as the SdKfz 251 Half-track, the wide variety of Panzer Elite Halftracks and Light Armored Cars, and can even go head-to-head with the Heavy Armored Car. Naturally, don't count on a single M8 Greyhound to fend off an enemy attack - it is simply meant to provide the first response to an attack. It can also flank enemy vehicles and infantry in support of static defenses. Force Reconnaissance and Raids The M8 Greyhound is very effective at making short incursions into enemy territory. It can drive in, cause damage and kill a few exposed units, then quickly retreat to your territory to receive repairs. The correct use of this unit requires good information about enemy positions and movement - the M8 Greyhound cannot survive attacks against strong enemy positions, and must instead attack only small or light groups. Use Jeeps and camouflaged Snipers to locate enemy weak-spots and attack those. A larger group of M8 Greyhounds, 2-3 in size, often fare much better. The combined firepower, especially when flanking and surrounding the enemy, will wipe them out in no time. A group like this can even surround and destroy, or at least damage, lone enemy tanks like the Panzer IV IST or StuG IV. They won't survive against heavy tanks or tank destroyers. The Armor Company has an even better use for these vehicles: driving quickly into enemy territory to seize or neutralize a sector, then driving back out just as rapidly. This is enabled by the Raid Command Upgrade, which allows M8 Greyhounds to capture Strategic Points. Finally, experienced players can use the M8 Greyhound to ride into enemy territory and plant enhanced Mines along his primary logistical routes - major roads used by the enemy units to move between the base and the front lines. To do this properly, you absolutely have to use recon units to locate those routes beforehand, so that you won't waste planting mines on unused roads. Armor Support When American tanks become the focus of your army and assault operations, the M8 Greyhound is very useful at providing protection for their flanks. It drives just off to the side of the main assault, and engages any enemy units attempting to surround your tanks. When enemy tanks are encountered by your main force, the M8 Greyhounds can move behind those tanks to attack their weaker rear armor. The Greyhound's M6 37mm Gun can reliably pierce tank rear armor, especially at Veterancy Level 2 where it receives a +50% Penetration bonus. This will speed up the destruction of the enemy tank. Note of course that you must engage the enemy from the front with sturdier units, like an M4 Sherman, otherwise the enemy tank will quickly destroy your M8 Greyhounds. M8 Greyhounds can also support large-scale infantry attacks, again by engaging enemy units on the flanks. Unfortunately, they are not very useful at drawing fire away from infantry, as enemy tanks destroy them easily. Therefore, again the M8 Greyhound needs to flanks the enemy armor while infantry keep it busy from the front. Weaknesses Until the Armor Skirts upgrade is purchased for this unit, the M8 Greyhound is extremely vulnerable to most enemy heavy guns, such as tank cannons, tank-destroyer cannons, anti-tank guns and infantry-carried AT launchers. These can often take out a Greyhound with just one or two shots at most. Artillery can also take out an M8 Greyhound with a single lucky hit. Fortunately, Greyhounds are fast, and while mobile they are hard to hit with almost any weapon - a fact you should use to your advantage by keeping your M8 Greyhounds moving throughout any combat. Never stand still. Once Armor Skirts are installed, the vehicle is considerably more durable, able to withstand twice as much damage as normal. This allows it to go head-to-head with anything its size or smaller. Still, enemy anti-tank weapons are very dangerous to it, and the larger guns (like the 88mm Flak 36 AT/AA) will take it out with only two shots. Of course, as a medium vehicle, the Greyhound is almost invulnerable to enemy machine guns and small-arms. Therefore, don't worry about engaging such units, as long as you present them with the Greyhound's front armor. This can be crucial when supporting your own infantry units in an attack: park your Greyhound in front of a Machine Gun to prevent it firing on friendly infantry units. Quotes On unit creation : On unit selection : On unit selection under fire : On moving order: On attack order : On promotion : Gallery M8-greyhound-04.png|A photograph of a real M8 Greyhound with Armored Skirts, courtesy of Wikipedia Commons Unit_M8_Greyhound_Upgraded.jpg|An M8 Greyhound with the .50 Cal Machine Gun and Armor Skirts upgrades. Category:Vehicles Category:American Units